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Ex BR(W) Coach 2180
W2180 before restoration
W2180 before restoration

This coach was built for British Railways (Western Region) in 1950 by Metropolitan-Cammel Carriage and Wagon Co. Ltd to a Hawksworth design.
It was converted for work on permanent way trains by the gutting of the guards compartment and luggage area to form a galley and dining room.  One of the compartments became a boiler room and the rest sleeping accommodation.
It was rescued from Cardiff by a private buyer who took it to the West Somerset Railway with the intention of restoring it to a fictitious composite layout giving 64 third class seats.  Unfortunately he was unable to complete the task and offered 2180 for sale.  Being of GWR design and reasonably sound it was purchased by a London Group member for the Trust.  Now 276 is in traffic (though not completely finished) this is the next London Group project, though the speed of restoration will depend on funding.  There has been an interlude where GWR Covered Goods 95979 was rebuilt to be a stores vehicle for this project.
The current proposal is to rebuild it as a GWR Buffet, since we already have enough brake coaches and no GWR refreshment coach.
When complete 2180 will form part of the Great Western train with 6515, two "Excursion Coaches" 1285 & 1295, Hawksworth First/Third Brake 7377, Compartment coaches 536 and 1645, Full Brake 276 and Ocean Saloons 9111 "King George" and 9116 "Duchess of York".

August 2007
Work on the restoration of 2180 has finally started!
Whilst the coach is general in pretty good condition we do have to totally reskin it.  Unlike 276 2180 doesn't appear to have been reskined in the past or if it has then the original screw holes were used.  We too will be reusing the old holes except along the bottom where the screws have failed totally.  The sheets will have the screws in the correct place because we're going to replace the bottom wooden infill.  There is only one reason for this; ROT!
Water has run down inside the panelling and completely rotted away the steel fixings for the wooden verticals.  Unlike 276 all the bolts have punched out of the wood because they haven't rotted however they are no longer holding the body to the chassis.
We are going to have to replace these items totally which means blowing off the old plates and riveting on new ones.  This is a new skill for coach work having previously been limited to locomotives and will mean assisting the main workshop staff in the task.  Once done they should last for at least another 60 years.

Work Starts on Staverton side
Work starts on stripping away rotten panels to reveal other problems
©GRB 2007
Lower panels removed
The extent of the corrosion is disturbing but very local.  The wood is sound. ©GRB 2007
Detail of corrosion
Detail of corrosion; steel on wood should be welded to plate on chassis! ©GRB 2007
A good bracket !
What the bracket should look like; only need to make 50 new ones. ©GRB 2007

September 2008
Work on the new brackets has at last started and the first batch was assembled over the weekend of 14/15 September using a jig fabricated earlier this year.  The first couple of brackets were taken to the coach to confirm the location of the holes and, given that all was OK, the rest were made.  The brackets were then finish welded and  bolted into position on the coach as a temporary measure.
Having done this the side of the coach no longer moves!
They will be unbolted and painted just prior to riveting down.
In order to do this the vacuum pipe that runs along the chassis rail will have to be removed.

New Brackets
The batch of brackets are seen here tacked together prior to final welding ©GRB 2008

October 2008

Over the weekend 11/12/13 October 2008 the brackets we'd made earlier were painted and the chassis needle gunned to remove the old paint and any scale and then painted in preparation for riveting.
Below there are two short videos of the process. Note: These take a little while to download and are noisy; we wore ear defenders!
This half of the coach is now properly attached to the chassis for the first time in many years.
ince W2180 is currently stabled next to the workshop it has been decided to complete the riveting so the Ashburton end of the river side of the coach has now been stripped of its lower panels in readiness for our November working weekend when these brackets will be exposed and, hopefully, removed.
We'll then do the Ashburton end of the coach so the whole end is complete.

Needle gunning the chassis
Needle gunning the chassis to remove scale and years of old paint ©GRB 2008
Painting chassis prior to rivetting
Painting the prepared top edge of chassis prior to riveting ©GRB 2008
Members of the London Group, assisted by the "Sunday Gang" rivet
the new brackets into place Sunday 12th October 2008
©John Keohane
Detail of riveting the new brackets into place Sunday 12th
October 2008
©John Keohane
New bracket rivetted into place
One of the new brackets riveted into place ©GRB 2008
More new brackets fitted
Half of the Staverton Side of 2180 is now joined to the chassis for the first time in many years!
©GRB 2008
Painting the chassis
Pete applies primer to the needle gunned chassis (12th October 2008) ©GRB 2008
Stripping started
A start has now been made on the River side of the coach with the first
batch of panels removed 13th October 2008
©GRB 2008

March 2009
16 March 2009

Side of 2180 2009Mar16
After fixing the brackets the side of the coach is now nice and straight.
16th March 2009
©GRB 2009
May 2009

7 May 2009
Following working on the Thomas weekend we heve spent the rest of the week changing the extension plate at the Ashburton end of the coach.
This plate is as badly corroded as the side brackets but supports four of the six verticals so the entire end cladding had to be removed.  This allowed the composite verticals to be dismantled so the securing bolts could be punched out.
The new plate has been delivered profiled and predrilled only requiring us to weld on the brackets.
The corner posts have their own brackets which are specials and have been fabricated by the SDR Works.  Due to the cramped conditions the plates were rivetted up first and then the special brackets welded on so the location could be guaranteed.
The end of the coach body only requires new bolts and more paint before we can consider replating.

Removing Ashburton end plate
Removing Ashburton end plate
Removing the rivets that hold the extension plate to the buffer beam.
7th May 2009
©GRB 2009
Removing the end plate
Separating the extension plate from the corridor support brackets.
7th May 2009
©GRB 2009
New end plate fitted
The Ashburton end framework attached to new brackets.
10th May 2009
©GRB 2009
New end plate fitted with brackets
New extension plate & corner support brackets rivetted into place.
10th May 2009
©GRB 2009
23 - 26 May 2009

Over the AGM weekend we continued to strip down the Staverton side of the coach so we have now cleared the entire chassis rail on this side.
Some of the posts had been repositioned by the previous owner so we removed those we could along with all the original brackets which we'll be replacing next time.
We will be re-instating the posts to their original locations though we are reducing the number of doors as part of the change of use for the coach.

Staverton side with no lower panels
The Staverton side now has no lower panels.
29th May 2009
©GRB 2009
Birds in the stock shed
Despite the noise and dust we had some pretty visitors.
29th May 2009
©GRB 2009
August 2009

We have now completed the rivetting of the brackets on the Staverton side of the coach and started on the remaining section of the Buckfastleigh side.
Some of the verticals have been bolted back but a damaged door post needs to be replaced first.

October 2009

We have now completed the rivetting of the brackets on the Buckfastleigh side so only have the Totnes vestibule left to do.
We are optomistically hoping to complete this at our November working weekend so 2010 will see us removing the roof and repairing the side post top brackets.
Once we've done these we will be able to complete the framework repairs in readiness for the panelling.

W2180 Totnes Vestible
The end of the heavy riveting is in sight; just this end to do!
12th October 2009
©GRB 2009
W2180 Totnes Gangway
Fortunately the rotten wood is minimal however this gangway head will
need replacing. 12th October 2009
©GRB 2009
November 2009
W2180 Totnes Vestible
Totnes vestibule with all plates riveted down, just awaiting the welding of the brackets.
22nd November 2009
©GRB 2009
W2180 Totnes Vestible
The end of the structural riveting - now to replace the rotten woodwork and a new floor.
22nd November 2009
©GRB 2009
W2180 buffer straightening
Sometime in W2180's past this bufferhead got dented so it's now been straightened out
and looks a lot better.         22nd November 2009
©GRB 2009
February 2010

The new season has started with work moving up the coach to the roof.
All Hawksworth coaches have a fundemental fault with the gutter design where ash and other debris lodges in the joint at the bottom and corrodes in both directions eventually piecing the roof causing it to leak as can seen from below.
Depending on cost we may replace the lower edge with stainless steel since the rest of the roof is generally sound.  The normal repair is obvious but even this had been repaired on 2180!.
Now the cant rail has been exposed it is clearer how much of it we will need to replace.  The cant rail is a special section so we will be making the replacement in-house.

Putting out the scaffold.
Preparing the site for the weekend's work. ©GRB 2010
W2180 Rotten Gutter
The gutters and roof have seen much better days! ©GRB 2010

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© South Devon Railway Trust 2010